Students debate Wiki

Professors might be divided on it, but students seem to approve of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia anyone can edit.\nThough few faculty members said they would discourage their students from using Wikipedia altogether, many take issue with students citing Wikipedia articles in academic papers.\nIn an unscientific survey of 222 IU faculty members conducted by the Indiana Daily Student, 44 percent of faculty members said that even if they have issues with the Web site, they at least allow students to cite Wikipedia articles in work they turn in, compared to 35 percent who expressly disallow it. \nAn additional 5 percent said whether they allowed students to cite Wikipedia depended on the assignment or class level the professors were teaching. \nFinally, 16 percent of those responding to the survey said they either did not have a classroom policy on Wikipedia or it did not apply to what they taught.\n"Wikipedia seems pretty accurate," freshman Sam Lerner said. "In high school I used it a lot, and I still use it here. As long as you cite something I feel it's OK."\nMany professors surveyed said they do not allow students to cite Wikipedia because they feel any encyclopedia is not in-depth enough for college research.\nJunior Jeff Barrows shares some of that sentiment.\n"It seems pretty accurate," he said. "I've (cited) it with no problems, but some of the info does seem kind of broad."\nWikipedia, one of the top 20 most visited Web sites according to Alexa.com, has gained so much popularity since going online in 2001 that some feel it is making online research more difficult.\n"It's usually the only thing that pops up on Google when you type in some things," junior Sam Winter said.\nFreshman Nel Zayas said while she uses Wikipedia for a lot of background info, she would be wary of citing it in a paper.\n"I don't think I'd say I wouldn't believe something on there, but I don't think I'd cite it because anyone can edit it," she said.\nSenior Elana Habib tried to cite Wikipedia in a paper for her African politics paper, but her professor wouldn't accept the source.\n"I don't think I'd try citing it again unless they stopped letting anyone edit it," she said.\nInstead of completely banning students from citing Wikipedia in their work, some professors said because of the volatile nature of the Web site, it's important for students to use their own judgment in what to use or not use as a source.\n"Part of the university experience faculty provide students is affording them the opportunity of discerning the difference between good and bad information," professor of theatre and drama Murray McGibbon said in an e-mail. "Wikipedia may very well have contributors who are more knowledgeable on a topic than so-called 'academic' experts. Students need to evaluate the information they discover, so I would think that Wikipedia might be a useful tool in this process ... Why should established printed encyclopedias be lorded over a community-based knowledge storehouse like Wikipedia? I know several well-known local academics who shop at Wal-Mart; incognito! So there"